The most common meaning of salvation is to be saved by God from the
consequences of our sin. But the Bible speaks of our salvation in a bit
fuller terms than simply being rescued from Hell.
When thinking
about salvation it’s helpful to think about what we are saved from, what
we are saved to, who we are saved by. It’s also helpful to think about
our salvation as a past, present, and future happening.
What Are We Saved From?
The
very nature of the word salvation means there is some sort of
threatening or deadly condition which we must be rescued from. What,
according to the Bible, are we saved from?
Listening to some of
our popular songs, sayings, and even preachers, one might think the
primary thing we are saved from these days is purposelessness. Others
speak of salvation from drug addiction or shattered relationships. Yet,
others speak of difficult circumstances in which we are facing. While
the Bible certainly speaks of God’s redemption from futility,
purposelessness, and suffering, this is not the primary problem which
humanity faces.
In the Old Testament (OT), the primary Hebrew
word which is translated as “save” or “salvation” often refers to
deliverance in concrete real-life situations. In 2 Kings 19:19 Hezekiah
prays for the Lord to save them from the Assyrians. Though there are
massive spiritual implications to this, the deliverance he longs for is
primarily in the present. Likewise in Psalm 54:1when David asks for God
to save him he is thinking foremost about being delivered from the hand
of Saul who is tracking him down. The Old Testament establishes God as
the Deliverer and Savior.
While the primary New Testament (NT)
word for salvation on occasion points to deliverance from a physical
threat the dominant meaning is deliverance from the consequences of sin
and the clutches of death and Satan. The major theme of deliverance in
the NT is deliverance from God’s wrath. In 1 Thessalonians 1:10 and
Romans 5:9 speak of our being delivered from the wrath to come. John
MacArthur summarizes well:
“The real problem is sin and guilt. That’s the issue. God sent Jesus
Christ to rescue us from the consequence of our sin, and everybody falls
into the category of sinner. It doesn’t matter whether you’re among the
haves or the have-nots, whether you have great expectations or none at
all, whether you’re consumed by your passions or exhibit a degree of
self-control and discipline-you are still a sinner. You have broken the
law of God and He’s angry about it. Unless something happens to change
your condition, you’re on your way to eternal hell. You need to be
rescued from the consequences of your sin. Those are the principal
issues the gospel solves.”
We see, then, that salvation speaks of receiving deliverance from our
greatest problem; namely, the many consequences of our sin against a
holy God. So how does this salvation come about?
How Do We Receive Salvation?
When
I bought an engagement ring for my wife, it did not make us engaged. I
still had to pop the question and she still had to receive my gift. In
the same way Christ has done what is necessary for us to be saved, but
that gift is not appropriated apart from faith. This is what the Bible
teaches in Ephesians 2. We are dead in our trespasses and sin, and God
makes us alive. When our eyes are opened to the beauty of the gospel and
the accomplishment of Christ our only fitting response is to respond in
repentance and belief.
Repentance and belief are really two
sides of the same coin. Repentance means that we are changing our mind
about God and about ourselves. We are laying down our own foolish
efforts to save ourselves. We are turning away from self-sufficiency. At
the same time we are turning towards Christ. We trust that He alone is
the one who can save us. We are entrusting ourselves to him.
This
is why the Bible says it is by grace through faith (Ephesians 2:8).
Faith is simply that which links us to Christ. It’s that which reaches
out and grabs ahold of the work of Christ. And, as it has often been
said, a weak faith is able to lay ahold of a strong Christ. The most
important aspect of our repentance and faith is not its own veracity.
The most important aspect of our repentance and faith is its object –
when we place our faith and trust in Christ.
[written by Mike Leake]
